Okay.
Evidence of meeting #15 for Natural Resources in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sir.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #15 for Natural Resources in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sir.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:55 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Russia, Canada: political stability; we all know the answer to that.
Thank you, sir.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Tan, I appreciate your comments. They could get natural gas from anywhere, but wouldn't you rather they get it from Canada and have that market? It's a country that's politically stable. That's why they look at Canada as a potential market. We have that political stability. We have clean environmental stewardship, and a regulatory regime that no other country has. I think that's why Canada should be part of this market, and not just say they can get this somewhere else. I just wanted to put that on the record.
Mr. Yu, I want to thank you for doing this on such short notice. I applaud you and the efforts of you and your team for being proactive about what this means to blue-collar Canadians who are making their living from this industry.
I have a question which you touched on a bit. I think this is an argument, and I know some of my colleagues are talking about this as well, which is great. It's about the impact of exporting Canadian LNG to Asia, specifically China. We're replacing coal-fired power plants in China with LNG. You talked about the impact that would have on B.C.'s greenhouse gas emissions, or how it would displace that.
Have you done any work on this? Do you have data in terms of what the GHG reductions would be if you took one coal plant off line in China, or two? China has 28% of global GHG emissions, and Canada 1.6%. I think it would have a much greater impact on global GHG emissions if we started exporting LNG to the Asian market. Has your group done any work on that?
3:55 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Yes, sir. I just can't recall the particular plant in China, but by simply displacing two power plants, two coal-fired power plants, in China, we can easily offset the entire greenhouse gas emissions of B.C., just B.C. alone.
3:55 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Yes. We would have 10% that we could pass on to other provinces.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
B.C. could sell it to another province on carbon credits, maybe.
3:55 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Yes, sir. I am from the Philippines. I'm sure we are a market for natural gas because, as I have observed, sir, you can see the air in the Philippines. It's not as bad as in China, but you can smell it and you can see it. I am sure that the population of the Philippines would benefit from using natural gas. We have experienced that already. We have a small natural gas...and 500 kilometres of pipeline. We only use it to feed one natural gas electric generating plant, and we see that the area, that particular area, is a lot cleaner than metro Manila, sir.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
With the Horn River basin shale play and Montney basin shale play, I've read that there are 21 potential LNG projects waiting for approval. Over the next few years, if some of these LNG projects were approved, it could mean 65,000 jobs across Canada, 48,000 of those in B.C. alone. I thought those numbers were interesting.
4 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
The royalty regime and tax revenue would mean over $3 billion annually for Canada, and another $3 billion a year for B.C. on its own. Are those in jeopardy if we don't get the pipelines approved? What impact would that have on Fort St. John? There really aren't any other employment opportunities in that community.
4 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Yes, sir. Unfortunately, Fort St. John is a resource town, heavily reliant upon natural gas. If there is no LNG plant approved, I may have to move my family out because there will not be that much employment in Fort St. John.
I am familiar with the study, sir. You were citing the Conference Board of Canada study called, “A Changing Tide: British Columbia’s Emerging Liquefied Natural Gas Industry”. This also warns that if we do not construct LNG plants in Canada, every year....
It started last February, sir. An LNG plant was put online in Louisiana, and there will be one more every year. Instead of that market going to Canada, it will simply go to the U.S.
4 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
Yes. Just to clarify, could you maybe explain to me a little bit about the the impact on communities like Fort St. John and Fort Nelson?
I just want to clarify that these communities are the source of the natural gas. When you're talking about building an LNG plant like Pacific NorthWest LNG on the coast, these communities are where the product is extracted and piped to those LNG plants, right?
4 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Yes. The Liard basin is one of the biggest in the world. It's located above Fort Nelson. It is logical to have the LNG plant in the northwest because that is where it is closest to tidewater or the Pacific Ocean, sir.
4 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
I would like this committee to know also that right above Kitimat and Prince Rupert, where two LNG plants are proposed, there is the U.S. Kenai LNG plant in Alaska. They have been exporting LNG to Japan exclusively since 1969.
4 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
Right. Again, it shows there's a market.
There is a last question I wanted to get in before my time is up, Mr. Yu.
There's the fact that on the ground, this is employment for Canadians, but these projects are usually in very remote communities. What is the impact? It sounds as though we have a lot of new Canadians going to work there, but it's also on the aboriginal side, the first nations side. We go up to northern Alberta and we see that a great deal, almost the vast majority, of service companies that operate in those areas are owned and operated by aboriginals.
Is that a similar case with the LNG?
4 p.m.
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
If they lose these opportunities, those jobs will go with them, and there's nothing to replace them, right?
4 p.m.
Founder and Chairman, Fort St. John for LNG
Unfortunately, that is true, sir.
In Fort Nelson, the Fort Nelson First Nation is very much in support. Seventy-five per cent of their population, or the tribe, signed our petition to the CEAA. Also, in Fort St. John there are a lot of aboriginal companies. Two of the “LNG or bust” teams are from first nations. Ramona McDonald is aboriginal, and she has her own company.
Out in the northwest, where the Pacific LNG plant will be, around 90% of the first nations support this project already. One is very vocal, and that is Ellis Ross of the Haisla Nation. They see the LNG plant as a means for employment, which they lost when they lost forestry in the area, so they are really hoping and praying that the LNG plants can generate jobs for the first nations in the northwest.
